This invention relates to a vehicle safety belt system adapted to restrain an occupant in his seat. Safety belt systems typically include a shoulder belt and a retractor having a rewind mechanism biased to rewind the shoulder belt into the retractor. More particularly, this invention relates to a shoulder belt, tension-relieving apparatus adapted to relieve the tension on the shoulder belt when in use by an occupant of a vehicle. The tension is produced by the rewind mechanism of the retractor.
The industry recognizes that the tension produced by the rewind mechanism of the shoulder belt retractor on the shoulder belt causes discomfort to an occupant using the shoulder belt of the vehicle safety belt system. Various apparatus have been proposed for relieving tension in vehicle shoulder belts. Such apparatus include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,972 to Klink; No. 3,700,184 to Francis; No. 3,550,875 to Settimi; 3,771,742 to Okada; 3,695,546 to Takada; and 3,682,412 to Kuszynski; all of which differ in structure and operation from the present invention.